This invention relates to a plaster able to remove comedones from the skin of a person""s face.
It is well known that comedones in the form of small fat deposits situated at the opening of the sebaceous glands form on the facial skin, in particular on the skin of the nose, the chin, the cheek bones and the forehead. These comedones also appear as keratotic plugs in the form of blackheads originating from the keratinization of dead epidermal cells with the sebaceous material and with traces of dirt which blocks the pores of the skin.
Comedones or blackheads represent a skin problem of considerable aesthetic importance, in particular for women. Currently, they are partially removed by the use of detergents or other chemical products, orxe2x80x94more commonlyxe2x80x94by squeezing or stretching the skin on the two opposite sides of each comedo.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,277 describes polymeric compositions which, when applied to the skin, bind to the dirt and to the keratotic plugs present on the skin, to remove them, when the compositions are themselves removed.
The polymeric compositions illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,277 are very complicated and costly, and have the drawback of being chemical products to be applied to the most delicate and exposed portions of the human skin (nose and face).
The main object of this invention is to provide a device of very simple structure and use, which is of low cost and enables comedones to be very effectively removed from the skin using absolutely non-toxic natural products which are innocuous to the skin.
These and further objects are attained by a plaster consisting of a flexible resistant support, one surface of which is at least partly covered with an adhesive layer comprising one or more components, either alone or mixed together, chosen from the group consisting of dextrin, casein and starch having an amylopectin content of at least 80% by weight, said adhesive layer being covered and protected by a thin anti-adhesive film.
The adhesive layer components are natural products (even though they can be produced industrially), commonly used as foods.
Starch is a substance present in many natural products, in which it is in the form of a mixture of amylose and amylopectin in a wide range of percentage ratios depending on the type of natural product in which the starch is present. For example, in common maize the starch is formed from 23% to 27% of amylose and 73% to 77% of amylopectin, and in potato flour from 18% to 22% of amylose and from 78% to 82% of amylopectin, whereas in a particular type of maize, known as waxy maize, the amylose content is only between 4% and 6% whereas the amylopectin content is very high, between 94% and 96%.
Casein is a protein substance (phosphoroprotein) obtained from cow""s milk.
Dextrin is a white amorphous substance obtained by hydrolyzing starch and used as an adhesive and agglutinate. Dextrin is widely used in the printing and paper field to form the adhesive part of envelopes, stamps and the like.
When in its pure state, dextrin is a white powder and can be fixed onto the most various supports by being dissolved in water and then applied to such supports by silk-screen printing, by spreading with a doctor blade, or by spraying.
When dry on the support to which it has been applied, dextrin is in the form of a hard film which again becomes adhesive when moistened with water or an aqueous solution.
The aforesaid considerations regarding dextrin are also valid for casein and starches in general.
It has been surprisingly found that if a flexible support carrying on its surface an adhesive layer of dextrin and/or casein and/or starch having an amylopectin content of at least 80% (or alternatively pure amylopectin), either individually or in any mixture, is applied to the skin (in particular a person""s face or nose) after having been moistened or after the surface of the skin on which the adhesive layer is to adhere has been wetted, and if the adhesive is left to dry or harden, it adheres to the skin and attaches itself in a sufficiently strong manner to the keratin part of the blackheads or to the free surfaces of the comedones, such that when said support is subsequently removed from the skin the comedones or blackheads are themselves easily removed, as if they were plugs, to remain adhering to the support by the action of the aforesaid specific adhesive.
It has been attempted to achieve the same result by using other natural substances instead of the aforestated, however it has been surprisingly found that only dextrin, casein and amylopectin are effective in attaining the desired object.
For the flexible resistant support, all those materials commonly used to form plasters can be used, such as thin sheets of PVC, polyurethane, polyester, cotton, non-woven fabric (the surface of which can be previously treated with known substances to prevent excessive penetration of the adhesive into the fibrous content of the fabric), paper and the like. The adhesive can be applied to the support in sheet or reel form by common rotogravure or offset printing systems or other systems.
The removable protection film for the adhesive layer can be a film of a plastic or cellulose material treated with anti-adhesive products (polymerized silicones or the like).